"
"Where are you going to?" said Polidori, hearing Jacques Ferrand getting up
from his bed, for the most profound obscurity still reigned in the
apartment.
"I go to find Cecily."
"You shall not go. The sight of her chamber will kill you."
"Cecily awaits me there."
"You shall not go--I hold you," said Polidori, seizing the notary by the
arm.
Jacques Ferrand, arrived at the last stage of weakness, could not struggle
against Polidori, who held him with a vigorous hand.
"You wish to prevent me from going to find Cecily?"
"Yes; and, besides, there is a lamp lighted in the next room; you know what
effect the light produced just now upon your sight!"
"Cecily is there; she awaits me. I would traverse a blazing furnace to join
her. Let me go. She told me I was her old tiger. Take care, my claws are
sharp."
"You shall not go. I will rather tie you on your bed as a madman."
"Polidori, listen; I am not mad--I have all my reason. I know very well
that Cecily is not materially there; but for me, the phantoms of my
imagination are worth more than realities."
"Silence!" cried Polidori, suddenly, listening; "just now I thought I heard
a carriage stop at the door. I was not mistaken. I hear now the sound of
voices in the court."
"You wish to distract my thoughts. The trick is too plain."
"I hear some one speak, I tell you, and I think I recognize---"
"You wish to deceive me," said Ferrand, interrupting Polidori; "I am not
your dupe.
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